In Blood Brothers I was double casted as Mrs. Johnstone and as an ensemble role as Donna Marie. I will start by saying movement plays a large part in the musical genre. The dance skill level varied in this production. There was clearly two different dance techniques ensemble or pedestrian and a soloist interpretive dancer- that I would describe as modern dance.

The ensemble’s role in dance was more of a pedestrian, “hey I could do this”- type of dance. Its purpose to the musical is to give the audience a “music is life” eavesdropping on the daily happenings of these characters. Movement is an extension of each one of the ensemble characters and this aides in the characterization of these characters. When the audience watches a show they want to experience the show and to experience one must use their five senses. The most common of these senses used typically is seeing and hearing. Therefore the correct expression of movement is very important. In American culture there is more of an emphasis on expression in voice and articulation, but in Asian cultures body language is far more important. Therefore a performer must be highly aware of their voice and movement.

Now let’s look at the specifics. In the first full company number Marilyn Monroe (Mrs. Johnstone and Company) this type of dance is pedestrian and upbeat dance. For Mrs. Johnstone it was important to not let the movement distract from the song because the song was story-like revealing plot and characterization. Learning the dance with the ensemble was trial and error. It took patience and lots of cleaning up in order to get the true vision of the chorographer correct.

In the musical number My Child which included Mrs. Johnstone and Mrs. Lyons, this took time to flawlessly flow acting, song, and dance. The interpretation took time to mold into something real and not just a “cutesy bootsey” number. In Easy Terms – (Mrs. Johnstone and Company) this had a pedestrian feel and it was important to have intention and precise geese like movement. Steps must be the same style and instinct in the ensemble. It is also important to not pull focus from the main character. The ensemble’s purpose is to add visually to the scene, but not distract.

The narrator songs included a soloist dancer. This dancer was significantly more advanced than the other cast members. Her job was to effectively communicate the songs message through movement. She embodied a devil, a gypsy, a girl in love (partner dance), someone left heartbroken.  I felt she was extremely successful. She embodied each message through movement and it flowed nicely.

In Kids’ Game – (Linda, Mickey and Ensemble) our purpose was to effectively embody children. This dance was the most exhausting. The thing about kids is they have a never ending energy and this was difficult to replicate. We did several acting activities to prepare for this venture. For example, picking three adjectives the described your child and telling a joke in this character. The dance steps were high energy and it was vital to keep energy flowing.

In Bright New Day – (Mrs. Johnstone and Company) this was also a high energy number. This had to hit with a bang because this ended the first act. It was difficult at first to switch from Mrs. Johnstones part to Donna Maire because that dance and song were equal high energy. Marilyn Monroe 2 I just had to focus being Mrs. Johnstone. The only obstacle I encountered was dancing with different types of people and timing. This also has an average Joe party like feel.

In Miss Jones – (Mr Lyons, Miss Jones and Company) this reminded me of those cute 50’s girl groups dances.  It’s all about simple steps instinct with one another. It was important to keep energy up and attitude. We struggled with the ability to dance and sing at the same time. With the help of rehearsal and muscle memory this got problem disappeared.

Light Romance – (Mrs. Johnstone , Linda, Eddie) this was an interesting simple dance interpretation of a flowering love triangle immerging right in front of the audiences very eyes. I thought this was very appropriate and the movement added to the musical number.

I have gained knowledge from these long nights of sweat and tears, during this production process. I have mastered the style and steps involved in this production and have triumphed in-spite of obstacles I have faced.From a sickness a week before opening night, exudative pharyngitis, to frustration to pure exhaustion. In the end it was all worth it.   Movement is the silver lining of a musical. It adds a touch of magic to a musical number.

Hey Ebony here giving you some info on a school activity. 🙂

SHAG the Student Health Awareness Group has brought GCC students and staff a very special event called the “Wellie Awards Banquet“. This gives students the opportunity to nominate students, faculty, and staff in areas of wellness. These areas range in categories such as financial, physical, emotional, social, and academic.

You have the chance to nominate your friend for these areas.

FINANCIAL

• Future Millionaire
• Headed for wall St.
• Financially responsible
• Entrepreneur Award

EMOTIONAL

• Mr./Ms. Congeniality
• Best Sense of Humor
• Best Couple
• Strong Man/Woman

ACADEMIC

• Going to get a Ph.D
• Thinks outside the box
• Dedicated to their Future
• Most Studious

PHYSICAL

• Will go Pro (any sport)
• Next Top Model (guy/girl)
• Most Physically Fit
• Fashion Stand-out
• Most Passionate dancer

SOCIAL

• Future talk show host/hostess
• Best Friend
• Most Involved
• Most Inspirational
• Goes Green

vote in room C-201 or vote online @

http://www.unleashmypotential.net/shag/

This event will take place on Friday

MAY-13-2011 @ 6:00 pm

Located in the Steiner Art Gallery

Come dressed to impress as if your going to the Grammy’s.

1st Annual Wellie Awards

Dress to Impress Gala

Friday May 13^th @ 6pm

Roz Steiner Art Gallery

Nominate your friends in room C201

Nominations close Friday April 22^nd 2011

 ~The greatest joy in winning an award is knowing that you have accomplished a goal.~ Ebony*Jamal

for more info you can contact Myself, Bobby Noto, and Jamal Murphy.

Hey Ebony here 🙂

Yesterday evening (April-14th-2011) was an amazing evening for me. Thanks to the survival club, Ebony Ross, and John McGowan. I got the chance to do some motivational speaking for the first time in front of good size group of people. It was fun to share my thoughts and give people advice on how to live life to its fullest ,be positive, be open-minded, and not to be afraid of change.

John McGowan was inspired by my previous blog post “Everyday is a new beginning”, and thought it would be nice to have a group discussion about the topic. It actually was great.The best part about the group discussion was that people were involved, interested, listening, taking notes, and engaging in conversation. I was excited about that and excited to know that people wanted to hear me speak. I can tell people were inspired and wanted to learn.

Inspiring and motivating people are two of the things that I live to do. I love to learn new things everyday and teach others what I’ve learned. You must learn it, know it, and teach it.  

Here’s a video that inspired me.

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. -Martin Luther King, Jr.

Hey Ebony here

Do you want to know how to get yourself known in the field of work that you desire?  You need to know who you are and what you want to do as a career. ALSO…

• Make yourself known.
• Make yourself a brand.
• Create a business for yourself.
• Be Confident.
• Market, Market, Market.
• promote, promote, promote.

Right now I’m reading this book called ” Build a Powerful Brand to Achieve Great Success ME 2.0″  by Dan Schawbel. This book is all about branding yourself or your company in the new world of todays technology.

There ares so many different ways to communicate in this world with technology. Some of those ways are

• Email
• postal mail
• Twitter
• Facebook
• Myspace
• Text message
• Telephone
• Linked In
• Instant messager (AOL, YAHOO)
• est.

and with these ways we shouldn’t have a problem networking and finding the job we want. You have to make sure you are sending out the right messages and branding yourself properly and appropriately. Let the world know what your skills are and instead of you finding a job, the job will find you. When you go out to an event or an meeting with important people make sure you have your business cards handy and ready to give out.  Be professional, dress to impress, and network.

“Brand yourself for the career you want, not the job you have.”

Hey its Kiley,

Today, I’m going to bring something to your attention. Dance studio floors should not be sleek and shiny, they should be slightly textured in order to give grip to the dancer, therefore   our floors need to be fixed in order to prevent slips and falls.

If anyone takes dance classes or acting classes, they are aware of the unusable floor in the dance studio. This semester I am involved in the following activity’s take place in the dance studio:  a dance class, an acting class, and Blood Brother rehearsals. The floor was cleaned and shined over Christmas break.It may look shinny and new visually, but looks can be deceiving. This took the grip off the floor, making our dance studio an ice skating rink. It is not supposed to be this way. On average, when I’m in the dance studio someone slips on the floor. This makes many students uneasy, due to the dangerous floor. In my acting class we did a trust activity that involved being blink folded linking arms with other classmates and going into a walk to a jog. This was next to impossible due to the fear of slipping on the floor. People should feel their in a comfortable environment and free to express themselves with unlimited movement, but this floor allows students to be consumed by fear.

HEY Ebony here 🙂

Every morning when I wake up I look at a piece of paper on my wall that says “everyday is a new beginning”. This quote  motivates me to try again and succeed at whatever it is I’m trying to achieve or overcome. This also tells me that everyday I wake up I have a second chance and another day to make changes in my life and start something new.

Take control of your life and you will become a work in progress. Create goals for yourself and deadlines for those goals. Write down all the things you want to accomplish, and make the sacrifices to get what you want. If one day you fail, take advantage of another day giving to you, to succeed.

You can ask yourself “what are some of the things I can do to make each day a new beginning?”

• Knock off those bad habits
• Read more
• Manage time properly
• Tell a friend or family member that you love them if you haven’t done so yesterday.
• Smile more often
• Open the door for someone
• Study more
• Gain healthy eating habits
• Exercise regularly

It can be as simple as anything listed above. Small positive changes can lead to bigger positive changes and happiness.

The difference between winners and losers is in how they view failure. Losers see failure but winners see beyond it!

Ebony here

What kind of lasting impression will you have when you leave GCC or leave this world?Do you want to be remembered as a positive person who was helpful, caring, strong minded, and kind, or the person who was negative with a bad attitude and careless?

They say  ” first impressions are lasting impressions.”

What will people say about you when your gone, or will they even have anything to say at all? We are all here for a reason, we should all influence one another, make positive changes, and teach others. Everyone is capable of having that lasting impression like some of the great people who has inspired us in so many ways like, Dr. Martin Luther King or Oprah Winfrey for example.

what Impressions have you left, because your only as good as people remember you.

How do you think you will be remembered?

This past week people would introduce themselves to me and say, “hey, your the girl on the GCC website right?” I laugh and reply with a “yea, that’s me”. When I leave here I know that most people will remember me as the GCC blogger on the schools website, president of the African American Student Union club, member of Student health Awareness group, work study at MarCom, an influencer, a good friend, and a happy person. Although we do not have total control of how we will be remembered, but we do have the chance to have an affect on someone else’s life.

I want to be remember as some one who can change people lives, gives good advice, a mentor, a sophisticated bright young African American woman, someone who strives for the best and great success, independent, and as someone who could always brighten up someone else’s day even when my day isn’t so bright. Most of all I want to be remember as an INDIVIDUAL.

Hey Ebony here

My fellow blogger and I Kiley were having lunch together today, and the more we talk the more we have in common. We were also sitting with a male friend, and we were deeply interested in the topic that was being  discussed. Then all of a sudden he told us that he was left handed, Kiley replied to that by saying “me too”, and I said ” me three”. I thought that was funny and very interesting. whenever you meet another left handed person  it’s like you automatically click and form a left handedness alliance. We are left handed people living in a right handed persons world.

Most things in this world are made for the right handed person. No wonder why it’s so hard for a left handed person to use a pair of scissors, and oh how I hate those 3 ring binders, and how the ink smears across the paper while I’m writing.

Way back then it was bad to  be left handed and people were forced to write with their right hands. But now being left handed is a good thing, according to some research left-handed people are faster at processing multiple stimuli than righties. Also lefties process language on both sides of the brain as oppose to righties only using their left.

each side of the brain controls different ways of thinking. The left side of the  brain thinks more logical, rational, sequential, analytical, and looks at different parts. while the right side of the brain is more random, intuitive, holistic synthesizing (taking a part a problem to see what the problem is, and putting it back together), subjective, and looks at things as a whole.

According to some research

left-handedness is found in approximately 10% of the population.

• Four out of five (80%) original Macintosh computer designers were left handed (I own a Mac computer and  love it. ;-)).

• Five out of the last seven (71%) US presidents were left handed (Barack Obama’s runner-up – senator John McCain – is also a lefty).

left handed people are more artistic and creative.

There is a whole lot more research to be done on left handedness.

Hey Ebony Here

It’s imperative that we celebrate the people who have made a difference in our lives and in the world. Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, Malcolm X, Nelson Mandela, just to name a few has influenced us in many ways . Martin Luther King had a dream that has greatly come true, it would have been  beautiful if he was a live to see his impact on the world. We only celebrate these people once a year, when it should be all year around.

Here are some pictures of two of the very important people who has made a world wide change.

MARTIN LUTHER KING

“Great success in ending the legal segregation of African Americans in the South and other parts of the United States.”

ROSA PARKS

“Her refusal to surrender her seat to a white passenger on a Montgomery, Alabama, bus spurred on a city-wide boycott and helped launch nation-wide efforts to end segregation of public facilities.”

Check out this website for more information on other greatly appreciated African Americans.

http://www.biography.com/blackhistory/

Hey it’s Kiley giving a college update:

So yesterday, I went to visit Medaille College after my intense acting class. When arriving on campus the first thing that came into my head was: small. The next thought: why is there no parking? It reminded me of the Catholic High School in my town:  brick exterior-prison-like yellowing walls that were once (in a former time) white, students acting like they were in a playground rather than a learning institution, and floors that had the burden of heavy feet on a routine basis.

I met with the head of communications, Lisa Marsherall, who really impressed me with her passion and knowledge. She described her students as “her kids”, which I found to be really endearing. One of the reasons, I looked into this College because my former Communications Professor, Val Bello, who was one of the people who inspired me to change my major to Communications, had formally went there. The funny part is, I bumped into her during my tour of the campus.

It may be small, but it has that inner community heart that many people search for in a school. The layout is simple, you could never get lost. I was shocked to think a school could be smaller than GCC, have less parking, and less advanced radio station/ TV studio. The grass is not always greener on the other side. This College would give me room to grow in my skills with its community charm and an expectation of three internships. The location is ideal. I also, may get a bundle financially-who wants to be in dept.

A note on campus tours. Listen up; I understand showing the entire campus when it is a large group, but when there is two people have an objective. Simply ask-what is your major, do you play sports, and what are some clubs you’re involved in? Those are right on the money of what people care about seeing. You can’t forget about food and the bookstore-typical tour staples. The point is don’t waste peoples time with fluff give people peanut butter, it’s better for you anyway.

“Blessed are those that can give without remembering and
receive without forgetting.”

— Elizabeth Bibesco